Ogre Goes Into Madness!!

Hello fellow Unicorn and Pony lovers! It is that time of the cycle again where we get to go over the newest cards with the newest gut reactions to a new environment we haven't seen any cards for except those previewed today! Woo! This preview set marks the return of dual bug cards so we can expect to see some powered down action for the next arc. I'll mainly be focusing on usefulness for Emperor edition with some thoughts of Ivory edition as well. Well onward to the cards!

Moto Xin - Meat on a stick. That is my initial thought on Moto Xin. He doesn't DO much, but he really doesn't have to do much. Not playable in EE except for some possible blitz decks (but the 2 honor loss actually messes with that deck) he is a "wait and see" card (I will probably be saying that a lot today). IE if the force totals are reduced, he will be playable as he is cheap force to gold ratio. The draw ability is decent too (redirect fodder). No relevant theme trait will probably limit his overall usage. 2 out of 10 Cheeseburgers for EE and 6 out of 10 hypothetical Cheeseburgers for IE.

Tsiang, the Benevolent - Oh high chi! This set features (so far) 3 unicorn personalities with 5 chi. I don't think we ever have had a set with chi that high .... ever. I don't think we are going to jump into dueling anytime soon, but it does leave the door open. Our theme monk guy (every clan will be getting one of these monk guys) is cheap (box-able) but low force (1!) with a very situational gold reduction (Ring of Water in play). His unbow ability is nice, but at this point of the arc, I just don't see him being played. There is better unbow for battle (Serenity of Air, AYD) that is more flexible than Tsiang. If he was Battle/Open I could see him making the cut in EE but for now his best use is Ring of Fire for 5. His low force is also extremely prohibitive with no relevant trait. It ultimately depends on the amount of Battle: Bow in IE that will determine his usefulness for early arc. I just don't see him getting played that long though. 2 out of 10 Cheeseburgers for EE and 5 out of 10 hypothetical Cheeseburgers for IE.

Shinjo Tselu exp - Didn't we just see this guy's inexperienced form? (...double checks). Yes we did. I demand immediate experience level for Utaku Ji-Yun for compensation (and one of Moto Ogaru too to deal with my shock and outrage). ...Anyways! Shinjo Tselu's cost went slightly up (one less gold but a higher than box HR) and he gained a point of chi. He lost his traits in return for a follower summoning ability. Considering that EE followers have been ... marginal is a bit of an understatement. This set actually features one of the only playable mid-range cavalry followers for EE. He's not bad but he isn't knocking my boots off either. Deck search is great but it's appropriately costed (discard). Now, the nice thing is you can combo him with either Min-Hee, Border Market, Jun-Ni or Harsh Taskmaster to get more bang for your buck. I feel he will get played on that merit alone. In IE, depends on the quality of cavalry followers available for him to get. Card search is great and with HR off of followers, they will be more playable. 5 out of 10 Cheeseburgers for EE and 7 out of 10 hypothetical Cheeseburgers for IE.

Komori Miyano, the Shadow Wing - Our other flavor of the month storyline win personality, Komori Miyano summons bats to be chump death targets. Miyano has the Air trait which, isn't relevant to the majority of spells we will be looking at but her cost is right as we FINALLY get our first 4g personality of EE. Besides the chump blocking and redirection target or the awesome sauce first turn Prosperous + Miyano buy, their isn't much that Miyano is bringing to the table. If she (he?) was non-unique I could build a deck with her in mind. Still, she works well especially with redirect and recruitment officers and provides two meat shields for Emerald Armor. Might be worth a slot in deck for EE. For IE, well let's see how much redirection is available or chump actions for her ability. 5 out of 10 Cheeseburgers for EE and 5 out of 10 hypothetical Cheeseburgers for IE.

Moto Ming-Gwok exp - Nice utility personality. Ranged attack is smaller (no doubt an Ivory change), which probably prevents him from being played in EE (range 3 is not killing much!). The ring manipulation is subtlety powerful and obviously the best part of Ming-Gwok. Offensively reusing rings (two uses of void every cycle? Sweet!) and then defensively preventing your opponent ring uses can be really good as well (No Ring of Fire for you!). Nice package of abilities (and 5 chi!) with a 4 Force 9 GC. 5 out of 10 Cheeseburgers for EE and 8 out of 10 hypothetical Cheeseburgers for IE.

Typhoon Surge - Depending on the ruling for EE (will it use EE rules or IE rules for it's ability) will determine it's usefulness for the remainder of EE. If if is ruled to use EE rules, this card is really good as it is unopposed movement plus the ability to use it as drag in. For IE, since this card does not have the Home trait on it's ability it can only be used at the battle. For 2 gold, the drag-in ability might be worth it depending on what we can do at said battle field to kill an opposing personality. 1 or 6 Cheeseburgers for EE and 4 hypothetical Cheeseburgers for IE.

Thunderous Legion - A great mid-range follower that will be useful for EE and ... not for IE because, for some reason I can't figure out this follower is not bugged for IE. It would be one thing for the Strongholds to not be dual bugged, but it seems a waste for a add-on card like a follower not to be dual bugged. Still, a follower that can be purchased with just platinum mine or with other easy options will be a good follower choice for the remainder of the arc. 7 out of 10 Cheeseburgers for EE.

Check the forums because Ill try to post relevant cards to Unicorn from other previews and comment on them. Till next time!